Lawyers for the federal government and the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese say a central question in a lawsuit over Affordable Care Act mandates is how to define a "substantial burden" as it relates to religious beliefs.

The Greensburg diocese, its Catholic Charities arm and one of its schools, St. John the Baptist Regional in Uniontown, are seeking a court order similar to that already won by the other dioceses. Those injunctions have exempted the other dioceses from requirements that contraception, including sterilization and some after-the-fact birth control drugs, be offered in employee health care plans.

The Greensburg diocese sued after the federal Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies refused to include the Greensburg plaintiffs under a voluntary extension of the injunction won by the other dioceses.

The injunction is in place until appeals courts rule on similar challenges across the country.